The J.League 1993 season was the inaugural season of the

J.League Division 1 The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J ...

. The league fixtures began on 15 May 1993, and ended on 15 December 1993. The first ever

Suntory Championship The J.League Championship is a two-legged championship series which determined the season champion for the first 12 J.League seasons (1993–2004) excluding the 1996 season. In the early years, the J.League seasons were divided into two halves ...

took place in the following year, 9 January and 16 January 1994.

Honours

Clubs

Ten clubs participated in J.League during 1993 season: * Kashima Antlers * Urawa Red Diamonds * JEF United Ichihara * Verdy Kawasaki * Yokohama Marinos * Yokohama Flügels * Shimizu S-Pulse * Nagoya Grampus Eight * Gamba Osaka * Sanfrecce Hiroshima

Format

In the first year, the league followed split-season format, and each halves (or stages) were known as Suntory Series and NICOS Series for sponsorship purposes. In each series, ten clubs played in double round-robin format, a total of 18 games per club (per series). The games went to golden-goal extra time and penalties if needed after regulation. The clubs were ranked by number of wins, and tie breakers are, in the following order: * Goal differential * Goals scored * Head-to-head results * Extra match or a coin toss The club that finished at the top of the table is declared stage champion and qualifies for the Suntory Championship. The first stage winner, hosts the first leg in the championship series. If the same club win both stages, the runners-up of each stages plays against each other and the winners challenges the stage winner at the championship game.

Results

Final standings

Suntory Series (1st Stage) Standings

NICOS Series (2nd stage) Standings

Suntory Championship '93

---- ;VERDY KAWASAKI won the series on 3-1 aggregate.

Overall standings

Average attendance

In its first year, the league averaged 17,976 fans and had over 3.2 million fans total over the course of the season. The following chart shows the league ranked in terms of average attendance:

Awards

;MVP

Kazuyoshi Miura , often known simply as Kazu (nicknamed "King Kazu"), is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Japan Football League club Suzuka Point Getters on loan from Yokohama FC. He played for the Japan national team from 199 ...

;Rookie of the Year

Masaaki Sawanobori is a former Japanese football player. He played for Japan national team. Club career Sawanobori was born in Fujinomiya on January 12, 1970. After graduating from Tokai University, he joined new club Shimizu S-Pulse based in his local Shizuoka P ...

;Manager of the Year

Yasutaro Matsuki is a former Japanese football player and manager. He played for Japan national team. He also worked as a football commentator. Club career Matsuki was born in Chuo, Tokyo on November 28, 1957. He joined Japan Soccer League Division 2 club Y ...

;Best XI

References

* Source
J. League 1993 (RSSSF)
{{J1 League champions J1 League seasons 1

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...